Archive for December, 2008

Go Green To Make Green

Posted on December 4, 2008. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: Agent, Brokerage, Buyers, Carbon Footprints, ENewsletters, Ezine, green, Green office, Houston, Internet, Internet Marketing, Newsletter, Office, Office Space, Paperless, Real Estate, Realtor, Search Engineefax, security, Sellers |

As a long time crusader for going green, and a Frog, I try to stay a few hops a head of the real estate industry.  My thoughts on why I believe going green is a key survival strategy? 

Let me start be saying that I’m here in Houston where we are rooting for the Longhorns football team, currently #2 in the Big 12. Here’s a shoot out for my team…  Hook’em Horns!!!

Succeeding in an economic downturn is like the University of Texas being number 2; it just isn’t good enough. Going Green to Make Green is a new initiative FrogPond is launching in 2009 to help brokerages not only survive, but thrive. I’m pledging to teach everyone how to go green while going green with just a few easy steps.

1. With the economists predicting that 09 will not just tough, but a sluggish year, brokers need to attack rather than react to these market conditions. According to Steve Murray, Brokers should consider reducing office space by minimum of 50% and outsource all non-core staff services.Houston Buyers & Sellers, 85% of Sellers visited 1 time or less to brokers’ offices and 79% of Buyers visited 1 time or less to brokers’ offices.

In recent survey of Houston Buyers & Sellers, results showed an amazine 85% of Sellers visited brokers’ offices 1 or less times and 79% of Buyers visited brokers’ offices 1 or less times.

Today top agents have home offices with all the bells and whistles and realize selling in a tough economy requires extra effort, better planning, more control of your sales cycles and tenacity. The top 2% of all salespeople automatically turn up their activity a couple more notches when things get tough. By doing so, they’re the ones who’ll be standing tall when the economy turns around.

Characteristics of these agents are:

• they are true competitors and hate to lose
• they have been in this position before and learned what it takes to win in an economic turndown
• they refuse loss of income
• they will reinvent themselves

2. Office space once was about attracting agents. Today office space is about attracting consumers.

Smaller retail space can offer positive experiences like an expert coffee bar where consumers can go to get questions answered, MLS search stations which consumers use themselves in comfy chairs with agents nearby to answer questions only if needed by consumer, set up showing appointments by agents, and give guided walking tours around the neighborhoods on large plasma displays- no reception desk as gatekeepers to information, experience staying open in the evening for visitors to wander in after dinner for a warm homey experience of watching home movies, but of other peoples homes and imagining their new homey experiences in your listings.

3. I believe that Brokerage should strive to becomes a paperless office enivronment saving millions of trees. Did you know in this decade, it is projected that Americans will throw away over 4 and a half million tons of office paper and nearly 10 million tons of newspaper. Almost all of this material could be recycled.

Efax, email, and online transaction management systems save brokerages money and time by reducing paper and postage costs, being more efficient in managing transactions while saving talk time with customers and everyone involved in closing process.

Here’s my 5 second commercial: FrogPond Publisher is my brokerage software solution to easily create online magazines and newsletters enabling then to stay in contact with consumers, prospects and retain and recruit agents. It’s a cut and paste simple tool that anyone can use, we host and support and provide content, graphic designers and writers if needed.

For as little as $499 per month compared to the average open house ads space in Sunday’s newspaper you can have your branded platform of your news and information about your brokerage, agents and your communities with an added robust search engine, an online calendar, a poll with instant results to get  your consumers and agents opinions, news and information through article and press releases posts, online training, revenue generating advertising and self-promoting banners. Not only are you saving lots of money on printing and postage costs,  your making money on advertising and going green by saving trees.

4. Did you know Brokerages and agents can save 26% of energy bills by turning off leaking electricity resulting in being green by saving energy?

Turning off your computer system when not in use (nights and weekends at work; overnight at home) can reduce your energy consumption, decrease your monthly utility bill, extend the life of your equipment, and increase the security of your system – they all reduce your carbon footprint.   This includes computers, printers, cell phone charges, plus all digital equipment you don’t realize are in stand-by mode. Take the test of turning off the lights and see how many little red and blue lights still shine. It’s easy to correct if you plug all your office and computer equipment into surge protecting power strips that have one off and on switch.